A rapid diagnostic test for tuberculosis (TB) has been approved for the first time by the World Health Organization (WHO). The assay can identify the tuberculosis-causing pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis in sputum samples within a few hours.
Tuberculosis is a primary cause of death by infectious disease worldwide. The disease is estimated to kill over one million people every year, and is a huge socio-economic burden, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
“High-quality diagnostic tests are the cornerstone of effective TB care and prevention,” said Dr. Rogerio Gaspar, WHO Director for Regulation and Prequalification. “Prequalification paves the way for equitable access to cutting-edge technologies, empowering countries to address the dual burden of TB and drug-resistant TB.”
M. tuberculosis can often be treated with a four-month drug regimen, unless the pathogenic bacterium is a drug-resistant strain. New antibiotics and treatments are needed for these tougher infections.
In Nature Communications, scientists have revealed a molecular susceptibility in drug-resistant TB by using a CRISPR-based screen. This technique, called CRISPR interference, can silence individual genes, and the researchers combined this approach with transcriptional and metabolic data to identify vulnerabilities in drug-resistant M. tuberculosis.
"We were then able to identify drugs that target these weaknesses and can rapidly kill these drug-resistant strains. While our work specifically focuses on Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the leading global cause of infectious disease morbidity, overtaking COVID-19 in 2024) this technology can be applied to other drug-resistant pathogens," said senior study author Dr. Matthew McNeil, of Otago University.
Another team is also looking in a strange place for novel TB drugs. In an unrelated study reported in PLOS Biology, scientists found compounds produced in a peat bog that could kill M. tuberculosis.
In peat bogs, fungi compete with microbes like M. tuberculosis for resources. Five fungi were isolated from a bog, which could destroy M. tuberculosis pathogens. Additional work identified the fungal compounds that were killing the bacteria.
While the scientists noted that these compounds aren't yet useful as drug candidates, they provide evidence that fungal compounds like those in this study can kill M. tuberculosis, and may provide a starting point for researchers who are developing such drugs.
Sources: The World Health Organization, Nature Communications, University of Otago, PLOS Biology